Rio Tinto sets up data analytics centre in India

British mining giant Rio Tinto has opened an Analytics Excellence Centre in the central Indian city of Pune to improve global equipment productivity through the use of big data.

Built by American IT services firm IGATE, the analytics centre will process what Rio TInto said is massive volumes of data, captured by arrays of sensors attached to the miner's fixed and mobile equipment.

The miner operates a fleet of giant autonomous trucks in Pilbara, Western Australia that travel millions of kilometres each year. Each vehicle is equipped with several sensors which generates terabytes of data.

Data scientists will utilise predictive mathematics, machine learning and advanced modelling with the sensor information in order to identify problems before they occur, to prevent engine breakdowns and other downtime.

Rio Tinto is hoping to boost productivity through the Indian big data analytics centre, the company's group executive of technology and innovation, Greg Lilley, said.

"The centre will help us predict the future through the use of advanced data analytic techniques to pinpoint with incredible accuracy the operating performance of our equipment," Lilley said.

iTnews has requested more specific details for the Rio Tinto analytics centre, and will update the story when these are available.

More to come...